Justice Antonin Scalia predicts that the Supreme Court will eventually authorize another a wartime abuse of civil rights such as the internment camps for Japanese Americans during World War II.

"You are kidding yourself if you think the same thing will not happen again," Scalia told the University of Hawaii law school while discussing Korematsu v. United States, the ruling in which the court gave its imprimatur to the internment camps.

"You are kidding yourself if you think the same thing will not happen again," Scalia told the University of Hawaii law school while discussing Korematsu v. United States, the ruling in which the court gave its imprimatur to the internment camps. […] The local Associated Press report quotes Scalia as using a Latin phrase that means "in times of war, the laws fall silent," to explain why the court erred in that decision and will do so again. […] "That's what was going on  the panic about the war and the invasion of the Pacific and whatnot," Scalia said. "That's what happens. It was wrong, but I would not be surprised to see it happen again, in time of war. It's no justification but it is the reality."

That sounds more like a humble admission that (a) the court was wrong, (b) that wartime clouds minds/excites passions, and (c) that the same things will happen again.

I won't disagree or be angry with this honesty.

9
posted on 02/04/2014 2:19:03 PM PST
by OneWingedShark
(Q: Why am I here? A: To do Justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with my God.)

I’m not sure I agree that it was wrong. It was war. There was reasonable suspicion that the people interned might have had split allegiances. And we certainly didn’t need to be fighting a gorilla war here at home.

If we ended up in a serious all out war with several middle eastern countries, would I have a problem excluding muslims from the military? No. Or interning all middle easterners and/or muslims? I’d probably be for it.

I’m not sure I agree that it was wrong. It was war. There was reasonable suspicion that the people interned might have had split allegiances. And we certainly didn’t need to be fighting a gorilla war here at home.

If we ended up in a serious all out war with several middle eastern countries, would I have a problem excluding muslims from the military? No. Or interning all middle easterners and/or muslims? I’d probably be for it.

When the late Sen. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, had the chance to get out of the Japanese-American internment camps and fight in World War II, he jumped at it, eventually earning a Medal of Honor for "conspicuous gallantry" near San Terenzo, Italy, in 1942.

On June 21, 2000, Inouye was presented the Medal of Honor by President Bill Clinton for his service during World War II

14
posted on 02/04/2014 2:22:47 PM PST
by ansel12
(Ben Bradlee -- JFK told me that "he was all for people's solving their problems by abortion".)

I was actually reflecting this morning on a conversation I had about five years ago with my boss. She was without question a full-blown communist. I had worked with her for several years and the mask had definitely slipped more than once. We were standing in the lobby of a hotel waiting for our ride, and there was a newspaper laying on the checkout desk depicting a conservative politician. She said something typically nasty about this person, and they should be frog-marched, etc. And I asked her, do you want to criminalize being a conservative. Without a pause or a bat of an eyelash she said: “YES.”

King Obama’s FEMA isn’t stockpiling several hundred million MRE’s, hundreds of thousands of automatic assault weapons, thousands and thousands of military assault vehicles and trillions of rounds of ammunition to repel an invasion of cheese eating surrender monkeys from the Duchy of Grand Fenwick.

A good response would have been, “Well, I suppose you know that any government that could prescribe such a thing, would also be able to criminalize being a Liberal Leftist too. Isn’t it great the U.S. Constitution, cherished by Conservatives and detested by the Liberal Leftists, won’t allow it?”

22
posted on 02/04/2014 2:27:58 PM PST
by DoughtyOne
(Amnesty is job NONE! It isn't even the leading issue with Hipanics.)

I know a lot of people on here don’t care for Glenn Beck, but he has been saying for quite some time now that they will become more and more bold about who they really are and what they intend for this country (and that is happening as we speak). The question is, what do we do about it when the balloon goes up?

If we ended up in a serious all out war with several middle eastern countries, would I have a problem excluding muslims from the military? No. Or interning all middle easterners and/or muslims? Id probably be for it.

The problem, of course, is that any government that has the power to "intern[] all middle easterners and/or muslims" necessarily also has the power to intern you and I. Doesn't take much to become an "enemy" fit for internment.

It may even be more likely to happen in this day and age. Note that liberals submitted petitions to Whitehouse.gov to have tea party conservatives prosecuted for treason. If liberals gained absolute control of the government, they wouldn’t hesitate. Internment camps would be the LEAST of our worries.

29
posted on 02/04/2014 2:31:22 PM PST
by BuckeyeTexan
(There are those that break and bend. I'm the other kind. ~Steve Earle)

"The problem, of course, is that any government that has the power to "intern[] all middle easterners and/or muslims" necessarily also has the power to intern you and I. Doesn't take much to become an "enemy" fit for internment."

That's true. And if it ever comes down to a war on Christians they will.

"So how do you justify confiscation of their property, including homes and land?"

I don't. I'm not sure how much was confiscated by the government. It look like they lost a lot to theft. And the lost a lot because many were in farm tenant arrangements where they didn't own the land and it got leased out to someone else during the internment.

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